Nice talk "Joe Mayo" who's the douchebag now?
Josh Visser
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Outspoken Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin says a Durham police detective accused him of “being card-carrying member of al-Qaeda” over Twitter after the ombudsman took sharp arm at police actions after the shooting death of Toronto teen Sammy Yatim.
On Thursday, not long before Marin was going to announce an investigation into the province’s direction to police on de-escalating conflict situations, an anonymous Twitter account named “Joe Mayo” tweeted at the ombudsman’s account: “[Marin] is card member of Al Qaida.”
In all caps, the same account also tweeted that Marin was “a complete douche bag!”
“Why don’t you stick your big French nose up your ass instead of business where it doesn’t belong,” the tweet added.
Marin’s account quickly responded, saying that “Joe Mayo” was actually Durham police detective Scott Dennis. (He initially identified the officer as Dennis Scott.)“: is a carded member of Al Qaida” says Police detective Dennis Scott. Nice.
Durham Police Deputy Chief Paul Martin said the force was investigating the “disturbing allegations” made by Marin.
“Should the Ombudsman have any information beyond what was in the tweets we would be happy to hear from him,” Martin said on Twitter Thursday afternoon.
Marin replied that he would “cooperate fully” with the investigation.
At his Thursday press conference, Marin, despite naming Dennis, said he did not want to say how he connected the dots from the Twitter account to the officer.
“I don’t want to get into that right now,” he told reporters. His Twitter feed said he could not reveal his investigative techniques.
A call to Dennis’ work number went to voicemail, where he said he was out of the office until Aug. 12.
Dennis appears on both the 2011 and 2012 “Sunshine” list, which names Ontario public employees making more than $100,000. He made $109,113.90 in 2012 and$102,241.68 in 2011.
Marin told reporters he has not contacted Durham Regional Police about the alleged comment of one of its members, but he did include the Durham police Twitter handle when he named the officer.
“I’ve got thick skin,” Marin said, adding that he has received death threats in the past. He would not comment on the nature of the death threats.
“Emotions run high when we talk about police oversight,” he said. “I would hope for a more informed dialog.”
Marin said his office had been the subject of attacks on Twitter recently. Marin had done a number of highly-critical media interviews after Toronto police fatally shot 18-year-old Yatim on a streetcar.
Yatim was alone a Dundas streetcar, holding a knife, when police fired nine shots at him, striking him multiple times in late July.
“What we saw on the [streetcar] is not something that is completely unfamiliar with the Toronto Police Service. There have been literally dozens of inquests that have recommended measures to de-escalate this kind of conflict,” Marin told the CBC.
TwitterA screenshot captured the "Joe Mayo" Twitter account before it was deleted.
The account also took shots at Toronto City Councillor Janet Davis, who had been critical of police actions in the shooting death of Yatim.
“You are a real expert, huh? Douchebag city councillor? Were you there? You need to keep your idiotic thoughts to yourself,” “Joe Mayo” tweeted on July 28.
July 28 was the same date Davis sent out a number of tweets that seemingly criticized Toronto actions.
Michael Eligon died on my street- he didn't need to. Either did 18 yr old Sammy Yatim. He was cornered on an empty streetcar! This story initially named the accused officer as Det. Dennis Scott, as initially named by the ombudsman. The ombudsman later identified the officer as Det. Scott Dennis.
posted by Clare L. Pieuk at 11:59 AM
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